


Late Night Confessions of the Semiotical Mind

by Panur



Category: Scott Pilgrim (Comics), Scott Pilgrim - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cover Art, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fanart, Fluff, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Sex, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panur/pseuds/Panur
Summary: "Um...” he starts, hugging the other a little tighter, trying to get his voice to carry above a wobbly whisper. “This might be a stupid thing to say but... I love you."Update: Now with cover art! (manip of canon image on Volume 3)
Relationships: Scott Pilgrim/Wallace Wells
Comments: 26
Kudos: 61





	Late Night Confessions of the Semiotical Mind

Scott should be asleep right now.

It’s been a good night. They decided to stay in, watched a couple movies and ended up having a nice little makeout session that led into some pretty awesome heavy petting. Now Scott’s curled against Wallace’s back, which is honestly great because they both love cuddling. It has the added tactical advantage of being the safest position for him to be, considering Wallace’s tendency to kick like a bitch when he sleeps.

Which is what Scott should be doing.

It’s late. He’s tired and they have classes in the morning. They’ve already cleaned up and even equipped their ‘compromise’ underwear, which stood as the middle ground between Scott's 'pants on' and Wallace's 'hang loose' preferences.

(‘ _What? If someone wants something they’ll just knock_ ,’ sayeth Wallace, and Scott may not have yet unlocked all of his mysterious and secretive past but that is -in his humble opinion- the kind of bullshit only someone without siblings would spout.)

There really isn’t any reason he shouldn’t be sleeping already.

Except he’s never felt more sleepless in his life. Maybe it’s the late hour, or the hormones, or not being sure if tomorrow’s the due date for that assignment he keeps putting off. Or maybe it’s the crushing weight of lugging his burdensome feelings to bed (the latter, it’s totally the latter), but he’s so wide awake it isn’t even funny.

Maybe he should say something. Get it off his chest. Maybe he’d feel better if he did?

"Um...” he starts, hugging the other a little tighter, trying to get his voice to carry above a wobbly whisper. “This might be a stupid thing to say but... I love you."

There. It’s said. He’s said it. Now he’s gonna feel better even if he doesn’t get the answer he wants, right? Isn’t that how it works?

He waits a beat, then two, then three... And then several more just to be sure, but there’s no response, just chilling silence. A part of him hopes Wallace is already asleep, but his partner's trepidatious stillness tells another story. After all, an unconscious Wallace is anything but _still_.

The worst part is Scott does not feel better. At all. He’s not even sure _how_ he feels, like… his face feels hot and his body cold, and his chest tight? He wants to pull away, but he feels oddly afraid to do so, like Wallace will notice and do something (or nothing, which shouldn’t be quite as threatening as it sounds, yet _is_ ).

Yeah, this was a terrible idea. Probably the worst he’s had in a while. Catholic school _and_ Anime both lied to him and confession is not good for the soul. This is all in fact pretty _terrible_ -

"That was stupid, right?” He croaks nervously. Of course it was stupid, why would he even say that? They’ve only been dating like nine months, not that he’s counting (he totally is, their anniversary is in a week and he knows this because he has the date marked and he already asked his mom to help him cook dinner because he wants to impress Wallace, and Wallace likes his mom’s cooking; and Jesus he’s SO the girl in this relationship, it’s not even funny).

A normal person would have waited for a better moment, or been more sure about how their partner felt, or at the very least been a little smoother about it. But nooo, he had to go with his stupid gut, which-- not content with simply failing him--, is now also trying to turn itself inside out.

“Nevermind, forget I said--"

Wallace sits up so quickly it nearly gives him a heart attack, the jerky suddenness of it almost a threat. He doesn’t say a thing, but turns and fixes Scott with something that feels uncomfortably close to a glare.

“…Seriously?” Wallace asks, pushing dark hair behind his ear. He does not sound happy, and Scott’s suddenly having a lot of trouble swallowing with that damned lump in his throat. This is officially the worst idea he’s had all year. “Like... legit?”

Scott pulls back a bit, confused and wary. He wishes he could ask ‘legitimately what?’ so they could both pretend the past five minutes hadn’t happened, but that seems unlikely because his hesitance just makes Wallace frown more.

“ _Scott_.” the tone he’s using sounds very _answer-me-or-else_ -ish to Scott’s well trained ear. It’s one of his mother’s favorite tactics and it’s super effective.

“Uh…. Yeah. Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?”

“… I guess **you** wouldn’t.” Wallace says, more to himself than anything, emphasizing the ‘you’ in a way Scott can't translate, but gets the feeling it ties in with one of those as of yet locked parts of Wallace’s backstory.

There’s several more silent seconds, spent with Wallace rubbing his eyes like he’s getting a headache and Scott wishing he could have just gotten up and ...cleaned his room. Or gotten a haircut. Or started on that assignment-- Scott suddenly desperately *wishes* he’d started on his Semiotics paper instead of saying anything stupid about his stupid feelings. Why did he have to open his mouth? This couldn’t have gone any worse if he’d planned for it.

Then, to add insult to injury, Wallace _chuckles_ , and Scott’s guts feel like they just pummelled through the first floor and straight into the basement.

“Are you _laughing_??” From all possible responses he thought he may get out of a confession, Wallace making fun of him for it wasn’t even in the list. Sure, he may be a huge bastard. And have a particular sense of humor that bordered on ‘mean bitch.’ And completely lack an opinion filter, but he’d never been _cruel_. At least not to him.

Wallace shakes his head furiously in placation--which is extremely fortunate for everyone involved, considering Scott is this close punting him clear off the bed. Or maybe indulge in a small melodramatic cry. Maybe even both!- But Wallace doesn’t look up and the way he’s hiding his face still has Scott on edge.

“…Then??” He’s being a smidge louder than he probably should be at this hour, but at this point volume modulation hasn’t even made it to the priority list. Kicking Wallace out of bed (and potentially out of the window) is sitting pretty firmly within the top three.

Wallace shakes his head again and points at something above his head. It takes a moment for Scott to realize there is now dialogue with Wallace’s updated status, then read it.

“You- You’re…” Scott struggles to wrap his mind around the words lettering on the sign “…. _’Shivering with delight_ ’?”

Wallace nods quickly.

“….Why?”

“Scott!” Wallace hisses, finally turning to look at him, sounding exasperated but also thrilled - -which is an odd combination, particularly for Wallace. “This may come as a surprise, but it’s not every day that a really cute guy tells me he loves me...!”

His boyfriend is grinning in an unfamiliar, skittery way Scott doesn't think he’s ever seen from him, and when he gives Wallace a confused look, Wallace just grins wider and looks away, messing with his bangs in a gesture he’d call ‘shy’ if this was anyone else.

“In fact… This is kind of the first time anyone's said that to me?”

Surely not _anyone_ , Scott thinks, because that’d be really sad and if Scott’s been struggling to not blurt it out like a desperate idiot after only a few months of dating him, he can’t imagine _no one_ ever dropping the L-bomb. Oblivious to his thoughts, Wallace sighs and buries his face miles-deep in his hands.

“Fuuuuuck. This is awesome.”

That’s… good, right? Wallace seems pleased. And he called Scott cute. _Really_ cute, even. He would have preferred ‘hot’, but if his alleged cuteness is what’s making Wallace act like this, Scott will take it, no questions asked.

The ball of tension slowly starts to loosen, leaving him weak with relief and flopping bonelessly in bed. It’s not enough though, and after a moment's hesitation he reaches gently to run the back of his fingers up Wallace’s side, the touch light and only _a little_ proprietary. It makes Wallace jump a bit--for someone who claims not to be ticklish he sure reacts a lot-- but at least it seems to break his weird introspective spell, because Wallace grins and dives down to kiss him.

It’s _really_ quite an awesome kiss, the kind that absolutely warrants a nice mental guitar riff, and if that hadn’t been enough on its own, when they break it off Wallace just holds his cheeks and starts smooching him all over his face in some giddy excess of affection, making Scott snicker.

“This is _so_ cool~!” He laughs, arms wrapping around the other’s waist.

“…No. This is the complete opposite of cool, Scott.” Wallace huffs, finally stopping by bumping Scott’s forehead with his, but overall sounding pretty resigned.

“Noooo? This is awesome! I didn’t even know you knew how to blush.”

“I’m not...! Am I?” Wallace tries to push him away and cover his face, but it’s half- hearted at best, or at least he’s making it very easy for Scott to keep them in place. “I can’t tell.”

“Uh, yeah,” Scott smiles a little “A lot, actually.”

“How do you even know? It’s so dark.”

“I got +2 Darkvision from my dad’s side of the family.”

Wallace looks at him blankly for a moment, rolls his eyes then plops his head against Scott’s chest.

“’Course you do. Ugh. I hate you _so much_.”

“What? Seriously?” Scott says without a hint of sarcasm and a good deal of panic.

“No! Obviously. I like you so much it’s stupid. And dumb. And _embarrassing_.”

Scott releases a breath he barely had time to gather. Wallace laughs at him, then sighs.

“Uhhhgh. I’m disgustingly happy.”

“...Is that a bad thing?” He doesn't get why anyone would be *against* being happy, but Wallace is particularly weird about certain things- -like eating any vegetable that’s not either plain broccoli or hidden in his food... or wearing pants --, so, maybe it’s just one of those quirks he’ll never understand about the other.

Wallace seems to consider the question, eyes narrowed (…suspiciously?) at him. Scott’s not sure what he’s looking for but whatever he finds there seems to suffice, because after a moment he nods to himself

“I …guess not. I trust you.”

He sounds like some sort of philosopher when he says it, so Scott interprets it as snide, and is about to shoot back something dumb and sarcastic like ‘Gee, _thanks_ ’ or ‘that’s what your mom said’ (which admittedly makes very little sense but Scott isn’t very good at either ‘your mom’ jokes or comebacks so, whatever).

As it turns out Wallace meant it with maximal seriousness because the power of his truth-filled words conjures a whole floating _**pack**_ of little collectable vodka coolers, each with cute little stickers of Wallace’s winking face encased in a heart. Scott lunges for them before they have a chance to despawn.

****************

**SCOTT PILGRIM has earned 6 bottles of Wallace Wodka (worth 5 relationship exp points each)!.**

**SCOTT PILGRIM has leveled up on WALLACE’s trust!**

****************

“Yesssssssssssss!”

“Good job, you got a lot of those!” even Wallace sounds impressed.

“What can I cash for these?”

“For that many?” Wallace muses,“Well, I guess I could tell you about either my pyromaniac phase or my goth phase. But tomorrow, ok? Beauty sleep time now.”

“You had a _sexy_ phase??” Scott blurts mindlessly, his mind immediately zeroing on the option most relevant to his interests. He can feel Wallace's smirk against his neck.

“I _am_ in my sexy phase, guy… wait, you have a thing for fire?”

Scott blinks. "I... was talking about the other one, actually--"

" _Oh_. I-I mean-- I guess that makes more sense..."

There's an _awkward_ pause after that, mostly spent with Scott wondering what kind of things _Wallace_ 's into, if his first presumption is 'fire' when 'goth's on the table, but he's interrupted before he can ask.

"So... you have a _recreational investment_ on goth apparel?"

Just the way he says it has Scott blushing.

“No?? ...Maybe?” he does find goth girls attractive, at least. Not that he can imagine Wallace dressed like one- okay, he can but he’s aware it’s unlikely to be a realistic depiction. But he’d look good, he’s sure of that. Wallace looks good in black, but then again, he looks good in anything. Out of anything, too.

“I…don’t have to answer that?” he finishes lamely.

“Cool, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, then.”

Scott manages to stay quiet for almost a full minute, which is some kind of record for him.

“Wallaaaace..!” He whines.

“Yes, Scott...?”

“You can’t tell me something like that and not give me at least _some_ details!”

“Mmmm...Tomorrow?”

“I can't wait that much...! At least give me _a_ hint?”

Wallace pushes off and sits up in bed with a very dramatic and long suffering sigh, almost as if he’s not enjoying himself-- which he totally is because he’s a vain bastard.

“Ok, what do you wanna know?”

Scott tries to think of any way to phrase the question that doesn't sound weird and can’t, so he just goes for it.

“…What did you look like?”

“Like a pretentious twat with enough makeup and belts to make Final Fantasy proud.” Wallace laughs. “But you know, still making it look cool. Tooootally working it.”

Scott quirks a brow at the mental image. “You, with makeup?”

“A LOT of eyeliner, Scott. And I had this really cool trench coat that I never took off until it basically disintegrated... I was really into Spike back then.”

“...From the Land before time?”

“No, from Buffy, you know? The blond--?”

“Oh, the vampire guy, yeah.” For once Scott actually gets the reference, mostly because Wallace and Stacey were in the middle of marathoning the whole series in their basement.

“Yep.”

“Have you ever ...worn skirts?” he asks, fidgeting with the covers.

Wallace raises his eyebrows, but doesn't frown. “...Kilts, but only over pants.”

“Oh.” Scott tries to imagine it and can’t. He sees no difference between kilts and skirts, though... Aren’t kilts just skirts boys (and Scotsmen) use? “….Do you have any photos?”

“... Maybe.” Wallace says, leering happily. “Do _you_ have any of you in your catholic school uniform?”

Scott buries his face on his pillow with a groan.

“….You’re _awful_.”

“Hmm~. And yet, you _love_ me.”

There’s something terribly endearing about the smug way Wallace says it, so Scott just looks up from the pillow long enough to shrug and smile at him.

“Yeah.”

As simple and evident as reciprocal, non-sarcastic affection is for Scott, it’s apparent that wasn’t something Wallace was expecting, because his flabbergasted look melts into a very gratifying shade of red (enough to mentally thank his father for those extra darkvision points). Wallace must catch on his thoughts because he smacks Scott's ogling face with his pillow, who just laughs and pulls him close.

“Gross!" Wallace cries, "You’re _hella_ gay for me, Scott... And also very cute, and also I--”

Scott would later wonder where that sentence was going, but his senses -honed to extrasensorial accuracy borne out of years of disrespected privacy- are tingling. Making a face, he releases Wallace to bury an annoyed growl into his pillow.

“-- Scott?”

There’s no time to explain or warn Wallace before the stomping, which is followed by his door being slammed open unceremoniously (and with a very distinct lack of knocking, of course).

“Can you two _please_ shut up?? Some of us are trying to sleep!” Lawrence seethes “What the _hell_ could you even have to talk about at three in the morning?”

“ _Couple_ stuff Laurie!” Wallace shoots back, just as loud and twice as offended. “AKA: nothing a _virgin_ like you would understand!”

Scott doesn’t know what he loved most: the way Wallace said it, the weird, choked gasp of outrage Lawrence made or the screech of vindictive, fraternal glee emanating from Stacey’s room (because of course she’s listening, what _is_ privacy in this house?).

“...You guys _suck_.” Lawrence retorts, huffily.

“Well _duh_! Any other brilliant deductions from the puritanical codger?” Wallace goads.

“Oh my God, GROSS, not like _that!_ ”

“No, no, I assure you Laurie... It’s _exactly_ like that.”

As much as he’s against Wallace’s oversharing, Scott’s already resigned himself to the fact that trying to stop him from divulging their sex life is as unlikely as flawlessly pulling off Metallica's Master of Puppets' guitar solo, or maybe like finishing the 1991’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time game. That is to say: not exactly impossible in theory but hard enough in practice he’s given up on trying. Instead, Scott buries his face further in the pillow to muffle his laughter, succeeding a lot more at pissing his brother further off than in quieting himself.

“…I-I’m telling mom!” Lawrence chokes indignantly before turning around and marching back to his room, slamming that door as well.

“Of course you are, because you’re a little _snitch_! This is why your sister’s my favorite, Laurie!” Wallace says, stalking to the door and also slamming it back closed. “And close the door! Were you raised in a barn?”

They’re really fortunate his parents could sleep through an earthquake and/or three very rowdy kids with no concept of an ‘inside voice’. They’d never have survived to not-quite-adulthood otherwise.

“She does snitch though.” Scott adds, propping himself up on an arm and glancing with recreational interest as Wallace pads back to the bed. He really does look _very_ good out of most of his clothes, and Scott continues to be very thankful for his excellent night vision, _hell_ yeah.

“But not on me and I am biased.”

“He’s really gonna tell mom.”

“That’s fine, your mom will understand.” Wallace straightens the blankets back out and plops next to him “Seriously, who raised this guy? I can’t believe he just barged in without even knocking.”

“…Wallace, you’re an only child, aren’t you?” Scott asks, giving him his most loving and only _slightly_ patronizing smile.

Wallace shoots him a suspicious look. “Yeah, how’d you guess?”

“Just a feeling.”

Wallace shrugs and leans down, so they kiss a bit more. It’s soft and comforting, now without the edge of hormones or stress, and Scott sighs happily into it. He does, in fact, feel worlds better. Hell, he doesn't even care that Wallace hasn't said it back, because confessing is a bitch and there’s no way his boyfriend can act so happy and pleased with himself if he doesn't have _some_ sort of feelings for him back, which is good enough for at least tonight.

He’s just started to nod off when Wallace nudges him a little.

“Hey Scotty, my guy...”

“Hmmm?”

“Now that you’ve confessed your undying devotion to me… Does that mean I get to _rail_ you?”

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Scott Pilgrim delivers his paper in time six hours later and scores a solid 90%. It’s the highest he’s attained to date in this class (or any other), and the teacher would doubt his authorship if it wasn't because of the sleepless, impassive look in his eyes- the dead giveaway to a very thorough all-nighter.

Good to see what even the most uninspired of students could do, once they found the right incentive.

**Author's Note:**

> This whole story happened entirely because I wanted to write a short ‘5 times [character] did [thing] and one time they didn’t’ kind of thing, with the premise being 5 times Scott and Wallace got together… Unfortunately I’m weak to plotbunnies and short stuff isn't easy for me to write, so here we are, reviving that scene from volume 3 but with Wallace instead of Envy.
> 
> In this UA, while Scott did date her, he broke up with her much earlier (in response to the first signs of cheating) and after some time moping, got over it. As a result he’s far less traumatized and he and Wallace ended up dating kind of by accident. Neither’s complaining.
> 
> I actually may continue this, this is a very pleasing universe to work with, maybe a sequel to this or the story of how they got together? Let me know what sounds interesting to you, I will try to finish another 2 separate AU first given they’re like 70% written.
> 
> This is the first Scott Pilgrim fic I managed to finish and the first fic in general I’ve written in the past +6 years or so, hope you guys enjoyed it!
> 
> And thanks SO much to Reed, my fantastic beta! This wouldn’t be legible (much less half as funny) without his help!
> 
> LET ME KNOW IF I'M MISSING ANY TAGS! First time posting to AO3!


End file.
